I’m not intimidated by Nollywood big names – Blessing Patrick

Blessing Patrick is just two years in the make-belief industry and she has already won three awards. For the Cross River State-born actress and graduate of Sociology and Anthropology, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, she is so blessed. She talked about her career, fashion and other issues with www.angeladaviesblog.blogspot.com.

Her first award was at the City People Entertainment Awards 2013, where she was announced as the Best New Actress. Reliving that moment when her name was announced, excited Blessing said, “I feel so blessed. I feel that God is really by me, watching and supporting me.” Was she surprised when her name was announced as the winner?

According to her, “I wasn’t that surprised when my name was announced as the winner for that category because when I was nominated for the award, I went into serious prayer and fasting and God answered my prayer.”

The fair complexioned actress who has featured in a couple of movies like Sexy vampire, Midwives, Daughters of Eve, Aso ebi girls, King’s bed, Tears of a holy heart, Enter the place, Masquerade dancer, among others, revealed how her journey into the Nollywood industry began: I got into Nollywood after secondary school, through my family friend who knew a lot of actors and actresses.

“She wanted to become an actress but she wasn’t that opportune. I normally go with her to auditions and I was always given the opportunity to act but my parents wouldn’t allow me because I still had to continue with my education. But the good thing was that I met so many people in the industry. But professionally, it all started in 2011 through a producer I met during those days; his name is Solomon Apete. He actually brought me back to the industry in the movie, Daughters of Eve, which also featured Mercy Johnson and Majid Michael.”

Blessing stressed that her first time on set was not really difficult because she already had acquaintances with most of the Nollywood stars. “It wasn’t really difficult because it is something I have always had passion for and like I said I actually had acquaintance with most of them. I was already used to the way they do their thing so it was easy but like it is always said, there is always a first time to everything so that little nervousness was there.”

With big names like Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Ini Edo and others in the industry, is Blessing intimidated as a fast-rising actress? The articulate actress emphasised, “No I don’t because I respect them. When I see them, I respect them and I admire their works because acting is not easy. The only time you get intimidated is when you don’t appreciate their work or you don’t appreciate acting. But when you appreciate acting, you will know that it is not easy to get to where they are. When you give them their respect, they will love you and respect you too; so respect becomes reciprocal. But when you get into the industry and start feeling like you have arrived, that is when you will get intimidated. I don’t get intimidated at all.

Speaking about what Blessing considers as her unique selling point as a fast-rising actress, she disclosed that, “The truth is that I don’t think my unique selling point is what people can see. I think it is beyond the physical; it is really inside of me. So, one thing I always say is that the God in me is my unique selling point.” For her, the big names in Nollywood she would love to act with are Ramsey Noah, Omotola Jalade-Ekehinde and Rita Dominic. “These are the three people I will really love to work with. However, Rita Dominic is someone I admire a lot so I will really love to work with her.”

When asked what makes her tick, Blessing said, “My versatility on the job, I believe, makes me tick. I can fit into every role because that is what makes me an actress, provided it is not a nude role. I am hard-working and passionate about what I do.” Although Blessing has featured in quite a number of movies, she nonetheless revealed that she is yet to get her most challenging role. “I am still looking forward to taking up that challenging role. Yes, I have done quite a number of movies but I don’t think I have done any movie that has challenged me yet.” Speaking about which Nollywood male star she would love to kiss in a movie, she stressed, “That is huge. Seriously, who would I love to kiss? I have not really thought about that. Maybe I will start thinking about an answer to this question.”

Blessing noted that she knew that she was going to become an actress because as a little girl, she loved watching movies instead of going out with the family. “When I was a little girl, I loved to watch movies a lot. Instead of going out with my family, I will lock myself in the room and watch movies. I think that was a sign that I was going to become an actress.”

According to Blessing, her growing up days was not too friendly. “Growing up was not too friendly at all because I was the first and only child for some time. So it was just me and I didn’t really have friends around me when I was growing up. I was just doing what my mum does because she is into fashion designing; so I learnt so many things at a very early age.”

Revealing the latest thing about her, Blessing expressed that she is working on producing her own movie. “I am actually working on producing my movie. It is a story crafted from my heart. It is comic, glamorous and emotional. I have tried taking my stories to some marketers and they were like, ‘this is not selling in the market’, so it is something that I really want to do that will also help me. If you keep waiting for movie producers to call you to take up a role in a movie, you will wait for a very long time.”

The fashionable and award-winning actress who is also the Best New Actress of the Year at the Nigeria Media Nite Out Award 2013 and also given the Gbedu Recognition Award for supporting the Nigerian entertainment industry, emphasised that her style speaks her. “My style speaks me. I call fashion ‘yourself.’ However, I define my style as afro classic.”